"The Rose - Council of Guardians" - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
File. Created by The Insane Sicilian (TiS) with some questions asked by
Talib and Gaetor.  Thanks.  (Last Updated: 4/28/98)

-=Regards to Warren=-
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Question #1: What are the steps to beginning The Rose?

        You must choose a race and a class.  Some races are better
suited for different classes however, all races and classes have their
own advantages and disadvantages.  Your choice depends on your own
personal preference. It is smart to start with a Dwarven Warrior when
learning the game since they yield the most hit points, and are
considered to be the most durable at low levels.

        Explore Imperial City.  A useful command while exploring the
city is the "HINT" command.  It will provide you with an appropriate
hint if one exists for the room you are in.  These are context sensitive
hints so they are only available for rooms such as guilds, shops,
learning centers...

Commands: hint, map1, map2, map3.
Help topics: archtypical, class, dwarf, elf, fairfolk, giant, gnome,
gypsy, hint, human, mage, priest, race, scholar, warrior.

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Question #2: I still don't know what race and class to become, what can
I do?

        Ask yourself this simple question: "Do I want to primarily use a
weapon, my bare hands, or magic based attacks?"  Then, you can look up
each class to see which character would best suit you.  Warriors are known
for their ability to handle weapons, Scholars are highly apt at Empty Hand
Combat, and Mages are skilled at spell casting.

Help topics: archtypical, empty hand combat, gypsy, mage, melee weaponry,
priest, scholar, sphere of force, sphere of life, warrior.

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Question #3: What are some of the differences between the races?

  One example of such a difference is as follows:
  - Each race begins with different statistics.  It is your job to
    type "reroll" numerous times until you get the highest statistics
    possible for that race and class combination.  Determining what
    the best stats are is your job.

  For Example: It is quite noticeable that a Giant's strength is the
      highest out of all of its stats.  This would lead one to believe
      that this race is best suited, in the beginning, for the Warrior
      class.

Commands: reroll, stats.
Help topics: stats.

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Question #4: How do I pick the class right for me?

        If you are curious about the different classes, and how they
differ, you can create several characters and see what their strengths and
weaknesses are in the beginning.  To see a list of the skills you
currently possess type "SKILLS" or "SHOWPROFS".  Type "HELP [skill name]"
for an extended description on that particular skill.  Then, pick the
class which starts out with the skills which you feel will best help
you survive.

  For Example: Warriors begin proficient in skills necessary to melee
  combat, while mages starts out with skills necessary to magic
  based attacks.

Commands: showprofs, skills.
Help topics: skills, [skill name].

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Question #5: What are proficiencies?

        Proficiencies are your skills.  To see a list of the skills you
currently possess type "SKILLS" or "SHOWPROFS".  Every class can learn
every proficiency; however, some classes train certain skills more
economically than others.

Commands: showprofs, skills.
Help topics: skills, [skill name].

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Question #6: How do I increase my proficiencies?

        To increase your proficiencies you must first find the
appropriate proficiency training center.  Using the "INQUIRE" command
will show you if you are in a room that currently specializes in a
particular proficiency.

        Two things are needed to train a proficiency: development points
and money.  After you type inquire, and are sure you want to gain more skill
in that proficiency, use the "TRAIN" command.  For each point you wish to
raise your proficiency level you will have to spend a certain amount of
development points and money.

Commands: inquire, train.
Help topics: train.

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Question #7: What is the difference between the "Raw percentage" and the
             "Adjusted percentage" in the "skills" screen?

        Your raw percentage acts as a base skill level for that
proficiency. That number is then adjusted by the proficiency's prime
requisite.  The prime requisite is the bodily or mental attribute which
the proficiency directly directly draws upon.  When looking to see how
skilled you are in a certain proficiency consider the adjusted percentage,
since the percentage is only used as a base.

  For Example: The prime requisite for "Melee Weaponry" is the statistic
  of "Strength".  If your strength is below average, then your
  adjusted percentage will be lower than the raw skill.  As you
  enhance your strength, so will your adjusted skill.  The higher the
  adjusted the better.

Help topics: proficiency

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Question #8: What are attack and action delays?

        An attack delay is the amount of time which must elapse before
you may attack again.  An action delay is the amount of time which must
elapse before you may perform an action again.  An attack includes a melee
attack with a weapon or bare hands, while an action is such a thing as
walking, spell casting, ringing the gong in an arena, etc...

Help topics: proficiency

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Question #9: What are some commands I might find useful?

  - Typing alpha1, alpha2, alpha3, alpha4, and alpha5, will give you a
    complete listing of all of the commands in The Rose.

  -- In Combat --

  ATTACK [target] - This will execute a single melee attack.  If you
  have previously ARMED a weapon you will use a weapon to
  attack and draw from your Melee Weaponry skill.  If you
  have no weapon armed you will use your bare hands and be
  using your Empty Hand Combat skill.

  CAST [spell nickname] [target] - This casts a spell at a specific
  target. Typing "SPELLS" will show you the spell nickname.  You must
  type the target name in even if the spell can only be cast upon
  yourself.

  HITS - Shows you your hit points, mana points, movement points, and
  your action and attack delays.

  KILL [target] - Begins Autocombat.  This automatically attacks your
  target until its dead without giving regard to your personal health.
  (You can also type ENGAGE [target])

  RING GONG - When in an arena typing this will summon another monster
  to the arena you're in.

  STOP - Halts Autocombat.  (You can also type DISENGAGE.)

  Typing "HITS" or hitting enter to see how much Hit Points (HP)
  you have remaining can help you in combat.  This will insure that you
  are aware of when you are going to die and perhaps you can plan on
  trying to run.

  Using Autocombat is extremely risk since it does not pay personal
  regard to your health and will not stop if you are about to die.
  Autocombat should only be used if you are monitoring your character's
  progress closely.

  -- In Stores or Spell Learning Centers --

  APPRAISE [item name] - Appraises the item and gives you a rough
  estimate on how much the shop keeper will pay if you SELL it to
  him.  (For Example: If appraised at 25 the shopkeeper will give
  approximately 25, give or take a few silvers.)

  BUY [item name] - Purchase an item from a store.

  LEARN [spell name] - Learns the spell and puts it into your magical
  spell book.

  LIST - If you are in a store it will list all the items for sale, how
  much they cost, their weight, if you are skilled enough to wield or
  wear it, if you are strong enough to support it, and lastly if your
  class permits you to wear it.  If you are in a spell learning
  center it will tell you all of the spells available to be taught, how
  much they cost, and if you are skilled enough to learn them.

  SELL item - Sells an item from your inventory to the owner of the
  store you are currently in.

  You can look at an (in stock) item to see more information about it.

  -- In Taverns --

  ORDER DRINK - Order yourself something to drink.

  ORDER FOOD - Order yourself something to eat.

  -- Miscellaneous --

  ARM - Arms a weapon in your inventory for use in melee combat.

  BRIEF - Does not display the room description when you enter a room.

  DISARM - Disarms a weapon and puts it back in your inventory.

  EP - Shows you the amount of experience you currently have, how much
  you need until you may promote again, and how much it will cost you
  to buy a promotion.

  GREET [npc] - Greets a non-player character.  A non-player character
  is a computer generated character.  (i.e. greet priestess)

  LOOK - Look provides you with

  MYARMOR - Shows you a picture of what armor you are wearing and where
  it is on your body.

  SKILLS - Shows you a list of your current skills and their levels.

  SPELLS - A list of spells you currently know.

  STAT - Gives you all the information on your character.

  STAT2 - Gives you information on Boosts, Criminality, Drains, Hunger,
  Poison and Thirst.

  REQUEST [spell nickname] [npc] - Request a spell to be cast upon you
  by a non-player character. (i.e. request minheal priestess)

  REMOVE item - Takes off a piece of armor from your body and places it
  back into your inventory.

  VERBOSE - Displays the room description when you enter a room along
  with the location line, exit line, and status line.

  WEAR - Puts on a piece of armor from your inventory and places it on
  your appropriate body part.

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Question #10: What are hit points and mana points?

Hit points are a reflection of the amount of damage your body can
withstand before your character will die.  Each monster will hit you
for a certain amount of damage, or hit points.  Every 30 seconds you
will regenerate a certain amount of hit points dependant on your
Constitution, and skill in the proficiency of Natural Healing.

Mana points are also known as spell points.  Mana points are the
fuel needed for spell casting.  Each spell you cast will use up a certain
amount of mana points.  Typing "SPELLS" will show you which spells you
have in your spell book and how many mana points they use up per casting.

Commands: spells.
Help topics: mana, natural healing, spells.

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Question #11: What are all the things in STAT2?

  Boosts - Certain items, spells, or potions will boost (raise) a stat
  on your character for a certain period of time.

  Drains - Certain monsters can manipulate your character by draining
  certain stats for a certain period of time.

  Hunger - Over time you will get hungry and will need to "ORDER FOOD"
  from the nearest tavern.

  Poison - Occasionally monsters will poison you.  Either wait out the
  poison or go to the nearest temple and GREET the NPC for a list of
  all the spells she is capable of casting on you.  Use the
  "REQUEST" command to request a spell casting.

  Thirst - Over time you will get thirsty and will need to "ORDER DRINK"
  from the nearest tavern.

  If you remain hungry or thirsty in addition to lack of regeneration
  of hit points and mana points you will begin to lose them.

Commands: greet, order, request.
Help topics: greet, order, request, stat2.

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Question #12: How do I get experience?

You gain experience through the successful completion of quests and
combat. As you hit things you receive certain experience dependent on
your level, your adversary's level, and the amount you hit for.  You
also receive experience when you complete quests.

Help topics: quest.

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Question #13: What are quests and what do they do for me?

To advance beyond certain levels you are required to have a certain
amount of quest points.  Search for the Quest Corridors, and then
explore each room.  The room descriptions contain a detailed description on
what must be done to complete a particular quest.

Commands: map1, map2, map3.

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Question #14: How do I advance to the next level?

Once you acquire the required amount of experience you must go to a
promotion center, or guild, and use the "PROMOTE" command.  Promotion
requires an amount of money specific to your current level.

Commands: promote.
Help topics: promote.

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Question #15: How do I enhance my statistics?

Scattered about the realms are attribute enhancement centers. Typing
"ATTINFO" will give you extended information of the statistic enhanced
in that room.  Use the "ENHANCE" command to enhance that stat a certain
amount.

Commands: attinfo, enhance.
Help topics: enhance.

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Question #16: I'm a criminal!  What do I do?!

There are two ways to get rid of your criminal status.  The first way
is to wait out your punishment.  Using the "STAT2" command will show you
how many time units you have left to wait.  The second way is to seek out
the Sheriff's Office and pay your fine.  Of course, to get to the Sheriff's
Office you might have to kill a few guards in your way.

Commands: pay fine.
Help topics: fine.

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Question #17: Why do other people train cheaper then I do?!

There are quite a few factors involved in how much things cost
in The Rose.  Your level of Charisma controls how much tax is applied to the
base price of an item.  Quite often the price posted to you via the "LIST"
command is the modified price.  Another factor is class.

  For Example: A warrior has a fairly easy time training Melee Weaponry,
  but a hard time training the Sphere of Life proficiency.

Help topics: charisma, Melee Weaponry, Sphere of Life.

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Question #18: All of a sudden I am using up a lot of movement points... I
wasn't using up this much before!! What's wrong?!

Each player has a statistic known as Maximum Encumbrance.  This is
effected directly by how much Strength you have and determines how much
you can carry before your character begins spending surplus movement
points. If your current encumbrance is above your maximum encumbrance you
are over encumbered.  For each point over your maximum you will use up an
additional movement point.
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Question #19: Why can I hardly hit anything while fighting in the dark?!

This is part of the realism of the game.  In the dark it is extremely
hard to see let alone fight, so if you try to attack in the dark you
will most likely miss.

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Question #20: "My melee weaponry skill says that I have a proficiency
level of 26 but I still cannot use a shortsword.  What gives??"

The "skills" command will give you a comprehensive list of all
skills that you have some appreciable knowledge in.  There are three
columns on this list.  The left most column is the name of the
proficiency.  The middle column is your raw statistic in this
proficiency.  The right column is what is known as your "adjusted"
skill in this proficiency.  The adjusted column is the set of values
that all actions are based upon.  Each skill has a prime
requisite attribute (like strength, intellect for example) that governs
how effective you are at that skill.  The skill of melee weaponry has a
prime requisite of "strength".  This prime requisite affects the "raw"
statistic and the effect is reflected in your "adjusted" statistic.  The
better your prime requisite is for each skill the higher your adjusted
will be.  So, what is necessary to wield a shortsword is an adjusted
skill level of 20 in melee weaponry.  It is also important to note
that certain "walks of life" are not allowed to wield certain weapons
or wear certain armors.

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Question #21: What is infravision and how does it work?

Infravision is an ability innate in elves in dwarves which
allows them to sense heat gradation in a room.  What this means is
that living creatures which are warmer (or colder as the case may be)
than the room will show up as changes in heat lines.  You can
imagine infravision as a type of thermal optics whereby things which are
colder are more blue and things which are hotter are more red.
Infravision will allow you to see what living creatures are in the
room as well as the exits of the room (because the air is warmer
surrounding the opening of a passage).

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Question #22: There's not enough money! How come we don't get more
money?!

Players are started with an ample supply of money.  It is up to
the individual to budget their usage of this money in terms of training,
enhancing, promotion and purchases.  The monsters within the city's
arena's do not give much gold or silver when defeated compared to the
creatures you will fight in the surrounding areas of the city (forest,
mountains, caverns etc...).  If we started people out with too much money,
then the game would not be a challenge.  If you feel you need to begin
with more money, a Sysop configurable option exists whereby the Sysop can
increase or decrease the amount of starting gold and silver.

Help Topics: money.
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Question #23: How do I get magical healing and have poisons purged from
my system?

If you wish to be healed, you may seek out any of the "lay healers"
or the wise woman or priestess.  If you type map1 and map2 you will see
the location of the healers and wise woman and priestess.  When you get to
their location simply "greet" them and they will tell you what spells
they have available to be casted upon you.

Choose a spell you wish to receive a casting of, say minheal, and
enter "request minheal [caster]".  For example, from the wise woman, you
may "request minheal wise" and she will cast a minor healing spell on you.
In this fashion you may receive, poison purgings, restorations and healings
as well as other spells (such as shield and various types of bodily
attribute boosting spells).

